Test and Measurement Adrien blog

I share on this blog my work and experience about my work: I'm a specialist of test and measurement bench using National Instruments products as hardware and software: LabVIEW, TestStand, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio.

samedi 13 janvier 2018

The year 2017 was successful in hardware and software developments, measurement and traceability audits, training in Mexico, United States, Brazil and France.

Here is a list of the main activities:

fuses block test bench by vision for the Freightliner trucks production (Daimler): one in Mexico and two in the United States (LabVIEW, vision).

production of two new DSL home gateway modelsfor Sagemcom and Jabil : implementation of end of line testers (EOL) with accompaniment of the production ramp up and NPI assistance in Brazil (TestStand, LabWindows/CVI).

engine test and Modbus TCP : development of a software solution for controlling an engine test bench in two modes. Local mode allows the technician to check the engine for measurements; The remote mode allows another system to automate and control measures by Modbus TCP. All measurements are available at any time via Modbus TCP. This system was installed in France (LabVIEW).

WIFI test of GPON fiber optic home gateway for Sagemcom and Jabil : hardware and software development of wireless test bench for Brazil service center. It detects faults distinguishing antennas to facilitate repair (TestStand)

traceability system for the sensors production for Delphi : development of tactile interfaces for operators to monitor the production of Delphi gas sensors and accompanying the implementation of the database (C#, Oracle)

skin clinical study software for cosmetology : adding a new measurement instrument (Diastron translucency meter TLS850) and new features to the software introduced in 2010 and now used by many laboratories (LabVIEW).

vendredi 13 janvier 2017

measuring instrument for quality test of the magnesium (Peñoles): hardware and software development of a measuring instrument used in the laboratory for magnesium extraction. The instrument identifies the impurity particles present in a beaker and shows the distribution of these particles by size. The accuracy is 22 microns. The software generates reports and stores measurements in a database. Technique: LabVIEW and Vision. Location: Mexico.

functional testers for DSL home gateway (Sagemcom, Jabil): technical support on the end of line testers (EOL). Technique: TestStand and LabWindows/CVI. Location: Brazil.

measuring software for clinical study of the skin: it is a software initiated in 2010 for which we regularly add tools and features. This year it was the turn of the new features (new analysis report format, optimization ...). Technique: LabVIEW. Location: France

fuse block inspection bench for truck (Freightliner): development of two test benches for a new truck model. Technique: LabVIEW Vision. Location: Mexico.

mercredi 13 janvier 2016

WiFi 2.4GHz and 5GHz tester for DSL home gateway in repair center: hardware and software development of a WiFi calibration and validation station (based Broadcom chipset) for repair center. Technique: TestStand, LitePoint. Location: United States

software rework station for DSL home gateway in repair center: hardware and software development of a solution to do reworks on the flash memory thus avoiding replacement. Technique: TestStand, CLI, JTAG. Location: United States

test benches for DOCSIS home gateway: development of EOL testers (EOL) for the production of DOCSIS modems and support production ramp up. Technique: TestStand, LabWindows/CVI, LitePoint. Location: Brazil.

test benches for GPON home gateway: Development EOL testers (EOL) for the production of fiber optic modems and GPON support the launch of production. Technique: TestStand, LabWindows/CVI. Location: Brazil.

mardi 13 janvier 2015

IVI drivers for measuring instruments for the oil industry: IVI drivers development using LabWindows/CVI and TestStand. Location: France

software for cosmetics selection: capturing various skin measures this software indicates which cosmetic to use and in what dosage. Technique: LabVIEW. Location: France

measurement software and clinical study of the skin: since 2010 we add tools and features. This year it is the turn of the communications performance, instruments optimization and improvement of the measurement areas editor. Technique: LabVIEW. Location: France

Wifi calibration and test station for DSL home gateway: hardware and software development with installation in a service center and operator training. Technique: TestStand, LitePoint. Location: United States.

boot up diagnostic station for DSL home gateway: this aid diagnostic station, installed in a service center, allows the repair technician to read Linux traces during boot up of the PCBA. The software identifies initialization problems (flash memory corruption, problem of access to material resources ...); thus the diagnosis takes a few seconds. Technique: LabVIEW. Location: United States.

samedi 25 janvier 2014

During the year 2013 the missions of measuring and testing took me in France, Mexico,Brazil, Tunisia,Canada
and the United States. They allowed me to increase my experience in the
integration of test benches in the mass production lines and test systems technical audit. And it's always a pleasure to meet various
stakeholders, engineers and management teams from different sectors,differentcountries and communicate in different languages​​(English, French, Spanish and Portuguese).Here's the list of my activities in 2013:

Testing process audit into a xDSL modem repair center, defining solutions to establish, develop the new process,the layout of theline. This optimization resulted in an increase of 500% test volume capacity (TestStand ).

Accessory on a regulation system of laser cooling with cRIO LabVIEW real-time.

Development of a quality test bench at the end of the mass production of xDSL
modem (GVT, Telefonica): VDSL, WiFi 2.4GHz, 5GHz WiFi, FTTH, Ethernet,
HPNA (TestStand).

Optimization and debugging of functional test benches in the mass production of xDSL modem: 40%
reduction in test time, reducing false failures (TestStand, LabWindows /
CVI)

Development of instrument drivers for the measurement of the skin characteristics with LabVIEW.

IVI drivers development with LabWindow/CVI integrated in TestStand.

Development of a system for measuring the aging of electronic components

Technical audit of test benches and power supplies in xDSL modems repair
centers (GVT, Bell and Cablevision) to increase testability and volumes:
analysis of the feasibility of testing, measurements stability,
statistical analysis of the measurements and production data for test
benches, optimization of operator actions, software, traceability and
product flows.

vendredi 1 novembre 2013

For this project, my client asked me to increase the capacity of their test suites for your after-sales service: going from 500 units daily to 2500 units per day(units here are modems ADSL / VDSL telephone, HPNA, WIFI , WAN, Ethernet and USB.)Using benchmarks aftermarket in this case is to analyse and give a diagnosisto replace defective components and then verify that the repair has solved the problem.

Analysis

To optimize the test suites in the best way,the analysisis essential to decide what to do I found several factors that limited the ability.:

too many manual actions: the test is unfair,well, whenever operator interventionThecan not perform actions on another bank.

bank usability testing: the operator loses time to place the unit, connect and disconnect.

false failures: if false failures, operator definitely test and the test is restarted, we lose time. False failuresThey can be caused by hardware (measurementinstabilitydue to instrumentation wiring, connectors or other components) and software (processing measurement,analysis, tolerance).

the use of hardware resources: all tests are run one after the other,whilesome can run in parallel on the same drive or multiple drives.

process: having a single bank, to execute all actions and testing is not always the best solution.The number and functions of banks depend on the product, the tests to be performed,the environmentand why we test.

optimization of the line: the placement of the test suites may penalize the flow,forcingthe operator to waste time in their movement and increase the risk ofhandling errors that may damage the product.

traceability: havingthe product history is important to optimize the repair, fluidize (nottry a product that has been tested failed previous tester without any repair), diagnose problems l testProvide maintenance actions,but alsoto analyze production.

Solution

After presenting an analysis of the identification of problems,I worked withmy client on several points:

Review of the line and testers to improve the flow,ergonomicsand movement of operators and products.

use of the material now available,replacingand adding new, rewiringand connector type for better reliability and speed.

l migration software testing from test scripts executed from the Linux command line to test sequences of TestStand on Windows by creating a simple screen(test in progress, goodor badresult,pending test) to test parallelization to reduce the time.

test report generation, datacentralizationin the network and development of data analysis software.

vendredi 25 janvier 2013

The projects were exciting for 2012.
Anyway I did 160 000 km by plane to see my clients: going a week in a
country, 3 weeks in this one, 2 weeks in this city, but in total it is 6
months of business trips to share techniques and friendships (behind the technique there is always the human).
This year I enjoyed sharing my experience, working beyond my expertise to
give the best to support my clients in difficulties, improving processes
at the level of software and hardware and analysing the procedures to propose changes to solve the problems, speak four languages
​​at the same session (English, French, Portuguese and Spanish), share
my experiences in these languages ​​during training. Here is the summary of 2012:

test bench development with TestStand and LabWindows/CVI for Brazilian industry; install production lines, improve testing procedures to reduce cycle time and increase capacity

production equipment support: traveling or remote support for the identification of the issues, or pre
correction and optimization analysis to get the right
specialist (for production database for example)

trainings LabVIEW, TestStand and LabWindows/CVI

development of a measurement system for the cosmetic industry with LabVIEW

test bench development to validate the communication protocols for the production of PLCs with LabWindows/CVI and TestStand

Who I am?

I'm a Test and Measurement freelance engineer, a LabVIEW, TestStand, LabWindows/CVI expert and National Instruments products specialist.For my job I like to travel and talk to people in different languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.